


Silence sets the scene (the scent of denial)

by crossstitchcorinthian



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Cheating, Denial, Developing Relationship, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Past Relationship(s), Pining, Pining Liam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-04
Updated: 2013-03-04
Packaged: 2017-12-04 06:55:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/707843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crossstitchcorinthian/pseuds/crossstitchcorinthian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam swears he's not jealous. That it doesn't mean a thing. After all, it's just a kiss between friends.<br/>All the same, he can't quite lie and say that he doesn't care.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Silence sets the scene (the scent of denial)

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this back in october of last year. Around 2 AM. I have edited it a bit, but there's probably still some small mistakes.  
> Tell me what you think, yeah?

_It started out as a bit of harmless fun. A press of lips between a pair of friends. It wasn’t supposed to mean anything. Not when they were buzzed, their world gone soft at the edges. But later, when the buzz was gone and the beast still sleeping, nestled in the growing hollow of his chest, Liam couldn’t help but feel there was something more._

Lately, he’d caught Zayn staring at him when he spoke, his eyes glued to Liam’s lips. His too, would move slightly; Zayn would chew the inside of his lip, where he thought nobody could see. Nobody was supposed to notice. You would have to look very closely to be able to tell. Liam always knew when. Those were the days when they would slip off, unnoticed, to some suitable secret place, and crush their lips together in hurried, silent kisses. They never spoke, not even when it was done and they rushed back to the real world with downcast eyes and swollen lips. Louis would pretend not to notice as Harry smirked over a blissfully oblivious Niall. Niall, who came so close to interrupting. Niall, who thought the five of them would be friends forever. Nothing more, nothing less.

They never did more than kiss. Liam would lie to himself as he curled up next to him band mate, under the warm sheets on a grey day. As long as lips and eyes were the only thing to meet, he could convince himself that it was simply their hormones that were wandering. Chemicals run amuck after sleepless nights and jet lagged concerts where all their eyes were rimmed with red. Zayn was his comfort; he smelt of home when the hotel walls became too generic, white washed and hard without feeling. He was his best friend, the one who had been there since almost the beginning. He just wanted to feel safe.

It wasn’t enough. In the end, when sweet Danielle began to mean so much, and so much less, he realized he was empty. The creature within Liam awoke as he broke down like a flooded river. Zayn was the levee that caught him when he burst his banks. The arms that held him as he pretended not to cry. Louis shook his head, sighing when Harry nudged him, motioning to the two of them curled up on the couch. Niall began to notice; hurt that Zayn growled at him when he tried to comfort Liam, confused as to why the other seemed so pale and drawn. Liam slept in Zayn’s room that night, cuddled up against his chest, pretending not to notice the other’s warmth.

Not too long after that, the _beast_ began to walk. Their lapses into lust became more frequent, more desperate, and less concealed. As Zayn stood to leave, pretending not to notice the purpling bruise that was all too apparent upon the other’s collarbone in the half-light, Liam couldn’t help but reach out. He wrapped his arms around the waist of the other, murmuring apologies and profanities into the small of Zayn’s back. He'd turned around, making comforting noises as he stroked Liam’s hair. When the apologies were over and done with, he’d left without saying a word. All the same, Liam noticed that he was wearing his hoodie the next day, the one he sometimes slept in.

He just got angry sometimes. He couldn’t admit why, not even when Niall begged him to. Liam would hide away alone until Zayn found him and they dissolved once against into a pool of passion. The _creature_ in his chest purred each time they touched, roaring with each new sound and motion he managed to pull from that beautiful dark haired boy. It was all he could do not to speak when the other finally crumbled to his knees before him. He couldn’t speak. Speaking would make it real. Real was dangerous, and though the _creature_ in his chest cried for freedom, Zayn had a say too. And Zayn did not speak. Liam pretended not to care when he left with dry eyes and dripping lips.

Liam couldn’t deny the gleeful yowling of his own _beast_ when Zayn told him Perrie had tired of the lies. He couldn’t pretend to be sorry for his own actions. When he saw the two talking, and felt the need to wrap his arms around Zayn. Without thinking, the other had pulled him closer, barely noticing when his girlfriend rolled her eyes and stalked off. He was too busy talking to Liam by then. And after, when he told the boys that Perrie had ended it, Zayn was dry eyed and hopeful. Liam stood, ignoring the catcalls from Harry as he pulled the other closer for the familiar brushing of lips. It was a tender expression, sweeter than any other they had shared.

They shared the same bed that night. Zayn finally spoke.

“Leeyum?”

Liam smiled at the familiar drawl the other put on his name. He looked down his eyelashes at the man he could finally truly speak to, wondering what he wanted to say.

“If it means anything...I’m sorry too.”

The buzzing in Liam’s chest burnt out, the purring of his _creature_ suddenly stopped.

“Sorry for what?”

Zayn pulled him closer, his long eyelashes brushing the other’s ear before his lip reached it.

“That I was afraid to speak before. That I thought it might have been nothing. That I didn’t tell you why I was being such a fool.”

Liam smirked, deciding that time for the words had passed. There were other ways to accept an apology.


End file.
